STATISTICS
Parental child abduction – where a parent takes a child without the permission of those with parental responsibility – is now a worldwide issue. Statistics show just how widespread the problem has become. Number of child abduction offences in England and Wales 2002–2023. There were approximately 1,122 child abduction offences recorded by the police in England and Wales in 2022/23, an increase when compared with the previous year.
We also fear that these statistics are just the tip of the iceberg; many cases go unreported as parents seek custody of their children through foreign courts.
Public understanding of parental child abduction is alarmingly low.
Despite parental child abduction being against the law, a quarter (24%) of people do not think, or are unaware, that it’s a crime for a parent to take their child overseas without the consent of others with parental responsibility.
When asked which parent they thought was more likely to abduct a child, three quarters (74%) of people thought it was fathers. Yet according to statistics from the
Reunite International Child Abduction Centre
, 70% of the charity’s cases concern mothers taking the child.
As well as this emotional distress, both parents may often face severe financial difficulties as they fight for custody of their child through foreign courts. The statistics show that people tend to underestimate just how much getting a child back costs, including legal fees overseas and in the UK which may continue to mount up even after the child is returned to this country.
There also seems to be a lack of awareness about who pays the costs of resolving a parental child abduction case involving a non-Hague country. 62% either didn’t know or responded with the wrong answer, and only 38% answered correctly by saying it was the parents who would pay, not the UK Government.
